VZCZCXRO5389
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVJ #0297/01 0691517
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101517Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9858
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000297 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/SCE (HYLAND, FOOKS); INL (CARROLL); NSC FOR HELGERSON; 
OSD FOR BEIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019 
TAGS: REL PGOV PINR KDEM KCRM KJUS BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS APPOINTS HEADS TO 
THREE NEW POLICE AGENCIES 
 
REF: A. SARAJEVO 234 
     ¶B. SARAJEVO 101 
     ¶C. 08 SARAJEVO 714 
 
Classified By: CDA Judith B. Cefkin, Reasons 1.4(b), (d) 
 
¶1. (U) After a long delay the Council of Minister February 26 
made several appointments to leading positions for three new 
state-level police support agencies created as part of two 
April 2008 reform laws.  Although the Ministry of Security 
had held interviews for the positions of Director and Deputy 
Director for the Institute for Forensics, the Institute for 
Establishment and Professional Upgrading of Personnel 
(Education), and the Police Support Agency in June 2008, the 
CoM only now selected the final nominees from a ranked list 
of all interviewees ranked as per their interview scores 
(based on a scale from one to ten).  Post had been lobbying 
(Ref A) the CoM to make nominations in order to be able to 
include these new agencies into our law enforcement capacity 
building program.  Although these new agencies have not been 
given binding authority over entity and cantonal police 
structures, they can, if properly staffed, serve to promote 
inter-entity cooperation, especially in the fields of 
forensics and education. 
 
¶2. (C) The position of Director of the Institute for 
Forensics went to Ljiljana Trisic (Serb) and the Deputy 
Director is Damir Vejo (Bosniak).  The position of Director 
for the Police Support Agency went to Rahmija Hodzic 
(Bosniak) and the Deputy Director is Dragan Slipac (Croat). 
The position of Deputy Director of the Institute for 
Education went to Milan Krulj (Serb).  The CoM ordered a new 
competition for the position of Director of the Institute for 
Education, allegedly because the position they feel the 
position needed to go to an ethnic Croat and there were no 
other Croat candidates on the list other than Assistant 
Security Minister Vjekoslav Vukovic, who is currently 
suspended following his indictment in Croatia on charges 
relating to weapons trafficking (Ref B).  The CoM also 
decided that the headquarters of the Police Support Agency 
should be in Sarajevo, the Institute for Education in Mostar, 
and the Institute for Forensics in East Sarajevo.  While, the 
fact that the CoM was finally able to make a decision to move 
the ball forward is positive, unfortunately most of the 
candidates are not well known figures and lack the 
qualifications and experience one would expect for the 
leadership of these fledgling state-level agencies. 
 
Agencies created as Part of SAA Process 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The CoM decision comes in partial fulfillment of the 
terms of two police reform laws, passed by Parliament April 
2008 in order to fulfill a major prerequisite for Bosnia to 
sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the 
EU (Ref C).  The two laws called for the creation of seven 
new state-level police support structures, while postponing 
local police reform until sometime after the completion of 
constitutional reform.   The new institutions are to be the 
1) Directorate for Coordination of Police, 2) Institute for 
Forensics, 3) Institute for Establishment and Professional 
Upgrading of Personnel (Training), 4) Police Support Agency, 
5) Independent Candidate Selection Board, 6) Citizen 
Complaint Board, and 7) Police Officials Complaint Board. 
 
Three down, Four to go 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Now that the Council of Ministers has appointed most 
of the senior leadership for three of the agencies, 
Parliament must overcome a deadlock to make appointment for 
the other four.  Specifically Parliament must agree on names 
for the Independent Candidate Selection Board, which will 
then recommend names for leading positions in the Directorate 
for Coordination of Police.  We have been told that the issue 
is now held up in the state-level House of Peoples due to the 
objections of one Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 
(SNSD) delegate.  We will continue to consult with all 
parties involved to help expedite the creation of these 
agencies. 
 
Disappointing Selections 
------------------------ 
 
SARAJEVO 00000297  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Aside from the new Deputy Director for the Institute 
for Forensics Damir Vejo, a solid performer in the Ministry 
of Security who attended an International Visitors Program in 
late 2006, the majority of appointments went to lackluster 
candidates.  In at least the case of the Director for the 
Police Support Agency, we are told that pressure from the 
Minister of Security Tarik Sadovic caused the CoM to pass 
over a better qualified Bosniak candidate who had scored 
almost one full point higher (on a ten point scale) than 
Sadovic's favored candidate.  Rahmija Hodzic, Sadovic's 
favored candidate, is himself two years away from mandatory 
retirement.  Such politically motivated appointments, made 
with more consideration to ethnic background than relevant 
experience, will make it harder for these new state-level 
institutions to forge out relevant roles in the convoluted 
police structures of BiH.  We will nevertheless provide 
whatever we can to steer them in a positive direction.  Short 
biographic sketches of the new candidates follow: 
 
Ljiljana Trisic (Serb):  Before her appointment as Director 
of the state-level Institute for Forensics, Ms. Trisic served 
as Assistant Security Minister in charge of the Sector for 
Analytics, Assessment and Strategic Analysis, a sector 
reputed to have at best lackluster results.  Before the 
1992-1995 she was employed with the Yugoslav State Security 
Service.  She is 45 years-old, unmarried and has no apparent 
experience in the field of forensics. 
 
Damir Vejo (Bosniak):  Before being appointment Deputy 
Director of the state-level Institute for Forensics, Mr. Vejo 
served as Head of Section for Combating Organized Crime and 
Corruption.  Mr. Vejo graduated from a police high school 
before receiving higher degrees in Criminology in Sarajevo 
and Italy.  He has also worked in the Border Police and was a 
2006 attendee of an International Visitor Program.  He is 
married, has three children, and speaks several foreign 
languages, including English. 
 
Rahmija Hodzic (Bosniak): Originally from Kupres, the new 
Director of the Police Support Agency came to Sarajevo and 
worked in the Federation Police, where he led the section for 
education.  He holds a degree from the traffic faculty.  Mr. 
Hodzic is close to mandatory retirement age and has a 
reputation of being affiliated with the conservative faction 
of SDA. 
 
Dragan Slipac (Croat):  Before being appointed as Deputy 
Director for the Police Support Agency, Mr. Slipac served in 
the Ministry of Security as Head of Section for Analytics and 
Strategic Analysis.  Slipac completed a degree in machine 
engineering and worked before the war at a military hardware 
factory in Novi Travnik.  We are told that he served in the 
Croat Intelligence Service during the war and is rumored to 
be very close to the political party HDZ-1990. 
 
Milan Krulj (Serb): Before his appointment as Deputy Director 
for the Institute for Establishment and Professional 
Upgrading of Personnel (Training), Mr. Krulj worked in the 
Border Police as Deputy Director for Support.  He was born in 
1956 and completed a degree in political science in Sarajevo 
and later worked in the police forces.  He is married with 
two children, and has no apparent relevant experience in the 
field of education. 
CEFKIN